Resources for Balanced Eating Habits

1. Principles of Planning a Healthy Diet

A diet is anything that is consumed by a particular person or people on a regular basis. That means if someone routinely drinks coffee in the morning, that is part of their diet. If a person consistently eats fast food, that is part of their diet.

EXAMPLE

The diet of a person or a group of people can be influenced by their culture or religious practices. A typical diet in Mexico will regularly include beans, rice, and corn. People who follow Hinduism commonly choose to avoid meat, eggs, and fish while choosing to consume dairy, beans, and lentils as primary protein sources instead (Nemec, 2020).

Food choices influence short-term and long-term health. What we choose to eat on a regular basis can have a significant impact. When people discuss “going on a diet,” this typically references changing existing dietary habits to change some aspects of health, such as losing weight or reducing blood pressure. However, all people are “on a diet” because everyone eats! The term “diet” is often thought of as a method to lose weight or change the body composition. However, the focus on “diet” throughout these lessons has been on long-term health.

EXAMPLE

A diet that is high in fiber, with the appropriate amount of calories and proper macronutrient amounts, will contribute to the health of the body.

In the lesson titled “Elements of Nutrition,” you learned about the value of moderation, balance, and adequacy as a way of fueling your body with nutrient-rich foods, without following any particular “diet.” When people think about eating for health, they may think about cutting out sugars and fats and drastically cutting calories. However, all foods can fit into a diet that promotes health. In fact, by placing restrictions on food, it can be more difficult to stick to a sustainable eating pattern. Besides moderation, balance, and adequacy, calorie control, nutrient density, and variety are other principles of a diet that contribute to health.

While adequacy is about having enough nutrients for the body to function, calorie control adds on to adequacy by not going over what the body needs. Even though our diets may be adequate in getting all the nutrients the body needs, it can be easy to start going over the limit in some areas, such as sodium, carbohydrates, or fat. This can lead to the consumption of more calories than the body needs.

Eating well without overeating can be challenging. The Dietary Guidelines emphasize that it is important to choose foods that contain the most nutrients while being lower in calories. The nutrient density principle focuses on this aspect of one’s diet. Nutrient-dense foods include whole grains, vegetables, lean meats, low-fat milk products, and fruits. There are thousands of foods available to you in each of these categories, so how do you start planning? One place to start is by making your grocery list and choosing nutrient-dense foods that have been minimally processed. Minimally processed foods are those that are frozen, fresh, or even canned in their own juices or without added salt or sugar. Consider corn as an example. You can buy fresh, frozen, or canned corn, corn chips, popcorn, and corn nuts. The first three options could be considered minimally processed since they retain much of their nutrient value and do not have added salt, sugar, or fat.

EXAMPLE

Let us compare 100 calories of apple juice with 100 calories of apples. It would take two and a half apples to be 100 calories compared to one glass of unsweetened apple juice. First, the volume of apples is greater, meaning that it will help us feel satiated for longer. Second, along with the vitamins and minerals found in apples, fiber is being added on top of that, helping maintain the levels of blood sugars, blood pressure, and cholesterol.

With variety, it is possible for a diet to have all of the principles above but lack this key principle. While some people can eat and do the same thing every day on repeat, others cannot and need different foods and activities to stay healthy. A diet that promotes health is by no means boring. There are so many options and cuisines that are available for people to try.

EXAMPLE

The Mediterranean and Asian diets, as well as diets of other regions or cultures, have plenty of different foods and flavors to be explored. These diets can spice up the everyday routine with something new that also promotes health.

MyPlate and recommendations from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics follow the principles of moderation, balance, adequacy, calorie control, nutrient density, and variety. There are plenty of different diets that promote weight loss and fat loss, but they are lacking in at least one of the principles of a healthy diet. The ketogenic or “keto” diet is an example of a popular diet for weight management that lacks the principles of balance and variety. It focuses on consuming high fat and low carbohydrates. Though the diet may result in weight loss in the short term, in the grander scheme of things, it may not be sustainable for most people seeking permanent change.

reflect

Think about the six principles of planning a healthy diet: moderation, balance, adequacy, calorie control, nutrient density, and variety. Which one of these principles do you think your own diet would benefit from improving?

term to know

Diet

Anything that is consumed by a particular person or people on a regular basis.

2. Planning Basics Using MyPlate

Decisions about nutrition can be difficult. Knowing and using scientific research can lead to better health. Over time, public health organizations have developed tools based on nutritional science to help people design health-promoting diets. These tools can be used as guidelines for each individual with the awareness that everyone is different and therefore has different needs. MyPlate is a graphic representation of what a healthy plate of food might look like. In the lesson titled “Food Groups,” you learned about the importance of fruits, vegetables, grains, protein foods, dairy, and oils in an overall healthy eating pattern. MyPlate provides a visual along with guidelines on how each meal can incorporate all five groups.

Some of the basics for planning a diet using MyPlate are as follows:

step by step

1. Fill half of your plate with a variety of fruits and vegetables, including red, orange, and dark green vegetables and fruits, such as kale, collard greens, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli, apples, oranges, grapes, bananas, blueberries, and strawberries in main and side dishes. Vary your choices to get the benefit of as many different vegetables and fruits as you can. One hundred percent fruit juice is also an acceptable choice.
2. Fill a quarter of your plate with grains. Half of your daily grain intake should be whole grains, such as 100% whole-grain cereals, breads, crackers, rice, and pasta. Read the ingredients list on food labels carefully to determine if a food is made of whole grains.
3. Select a variety of protein foods to improve nutrient intake and promote health benefits. When choosing meat, select lean cuts.
4. Choose low-fat or nonfat dairy products, such as cheese and yogurt. Low-fat and nonfat products contain the same amount of calcium and other essential nutrients as whole-milk products, but with much less fat and calories.
5. Lastly, think about your oils. Use oils in moderation. Oils like olive oil contain more healthful unsaturated fats than solid fats like butter.

3. Tools in MyPlate

There are multiple planning tools in MyPlate that can help you build or maintain a diet that promotes health and is personalized to your individual needs or goals. Some of these tools include a customized MyPlate Plan, a quiz about eating habits, and resources for grocery shopping and recipes.

The MyPlate Plan shows your food group targets based on an estimated daily calorie amount. This information is personalized based on your age, sex, height, weight, and physical activity level, as well as if you have a goal to lose weight or maintain weight. The MyPlate Plan will also ask females if they are pregnant or breastfeeding. Try out MyPlate for yourself below by selecting “Start” to begin exploring. Based on the options you select, you will receive a customized plan with the recommended amount of servings from each food group.

It is important to understand that MyPlate cannot know your exact metabolism and that the calorie counts are an estimate. Focusing on the “big picture” of a health-promoting diet for the long term is more important and sustainable than being fixated on staying under an exact calorie count every day. The MyPlate Plan is also not specifically set up for individuals who have the goal of weight gain, such as increasing lean muscle mass. However, you will learn more about nutrition basics for both weight gain and weight loss in future lessons.

Another tool available in MyPlate is an optional quiz about your current eating habits. Questions are designed to gather information about how often you consume each of the food groups. Upon completion of the quiz, a personalized plan is generated based on the results. You then have the option of choosing your own goals for each food group or have the goals selected for you. You can then use the “Start Simple with MyPlate” app to track the completion of your daily goals, which can be motivating when making healthy food choices.

Another set of tools in MyPlate is part of MyPlate Kitchen. This part of the MyPlate website allows you to search for recipes based on categories like types of meals, types of ethnic cuisine, food group or nutrient goals, and even cost.

EXAMPLE

An individual can click “Reduce Sodium” to filter recipes and can then refine their search by meal course, food groups, cooking equipment, and type of ethnic cuisine. Suppose someone wants to make a lower-sodium main dish that focuses on protein foods and is vegetarian. Refining the search will result in options to try such as lentil tacos, scrambled tofu, and easy red beans and rice. (Recipes are subject to change as the MyPlate site and resources are updated over time).

MyPlate can also provide guidance on grocery shopping and eating healthy within a budget. This tool is called “Shop Simple” and can be used on a mobile phone or on a computer. Through Shop Simple, you can get tips on saving money at the grocery store, find local farmer’s markets, or find ways to prepare recipes within a budget.

learn more

Go to MyPlate to learn more about the tools discussed in this lesson.

REFERENCES

Nemec, K. (2020). Cultural awareness of eating patterns in the health care setting. Clinical Liver Disease, 16(5), 204–207. doi.org/10.1002/cld.1019